General Membership Meeting Sept. 15th has full agenda · the Vincentian Endowment. Organizations...

St. Vincent de Paul Society

NEWSLETTER

Published by and for Vincentians http://www.stvincentdepaul.net/Vincentian-Support August 2018 Diocesan Council of Phoenix, AZ Vol. 20 No. 6

“It is for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give them.” St. Vincent de Paul

General Membership Meeting Sept. 15th

has full agenda

Our September meeting, traditionally our busiest, will not disappoint this year as the 2018-2019 Budget of the Diocesan Council will be up for a vote, as will the Policy for Conference Funds Management. Council Annual Budget: The Budget is the most pressing issue. The Board has worked diligently for several months to put one together . Council Investment Policy: Please see the documents attached as relates to Conference Investment Policy, approved by our Phoenix Diocesan Council Board of Directors at their regular meeting on June 20, 2018. Our Board of Directors and Investment Policy Committee have approved this policy and directed it be sent for consideration for adoption by a vote of our Conferences. The second document attached also outlines the process by which consideration of the policy and the vote will be undertaken by our Conferences at our upcoming General Membership Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, September 15, 2018, at our Hall of Banners on SVdP’s Dan O’Meara Center. Please see pages 13 through 16 for explanation and policy.

2 Society of St. Vincent de Paul August 2018

The late Cardinal Francis Xavier Van Thuan of Vietnam, former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, described a Christian as the “man of now.” He saw every Christian as a person who lives in the present, who acts to make a difference in his life and the lives of others without delay or deferral. It is inherent in our vocation that Vincentians are “now” people. We deal with the needs of our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ on a daily basis and seize those moments to serve them as best we can. Our Vincentian Endowment provides the Vincentians of the Phoenix Diocesan Council with an extraordinary opportunity to support St. Vincent de Paul not just for a lifetime, but forever. It has the potential to create a permanent and substantial source of funding for the work of our Conferences and to be a vital part of our Council’s financial foundation. Our outstanding Development team under the leadership of Shannon Clancy and Ryan Corry will tell you that the extent of Vincentian participation in building your Endowment is crucial in persuading businesses, foundations and large donors to contribute to it. I like to think that we can always count on ourselves to make a difference, especially when it comes to the mission we have committed to accomplish. A recent report showed that six Districts and 24 Conferences have contributed to the Vincentian Endowment since its inception and 185 Vincentians are making

monthly contributions. That data suggests a tremendous potential for additional support from within our ranks. I hope you will join Charlotte and me in promoting and supporting this high-priority initiative. It is a source of great joy for us to know that our financial resources will help sustain the wonderful work of our Conferences in the future. We cannot think of a better way to show our love and admiration for our fellow Vincentians. You are our family and one of our greatest blessings.

One of my favorite St. Vincent de Paul signs is displayed on a wall in the North lobby of our Dan O’Meara Center. It reads: “The Society Of We’re All In This Together.” The Vincentian Endowment is a tangible reflection of that beautiful togetherness we share.

NOW IS THE TIME

By Joe Riley


The several annual distributions to our Conferences from the Endowment at the behest of the Council Board give a tip-of-the-iceberg indication of the financial benefits to come as the fund grows. The $662 check sent to each Conference recently – 23% more than last year – was based on a fund balance of some $1.1 million. If that amount had been $2 million, the check would have been for $1,205; with a $3 million fund balance your Conference would have received a check for $1,807. I invite you to think bigger because that is what the Vincentian Endowment promises us as more people contribute to it. Such support for our Conferences is both necessary and appropriate. A Conference is the basic unit of our Society, a community of faith and love from which members go forth to confront poverty and respond with compassion to our neighbors in need. The quiet work of our 83 Conferences is often unseen, yet its scope and substance are significant. Last year, the more than 3,000 Vincentians in the Phoenix Diocesan Council made nearly 47,000 home visits, provided some eight million meals through their delivery of food boxes and gave more than $4.5 million in direct aid to those in need. Add to that visits to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and prisons. In all, Conference members and volunteers devoted more than 472,000 hours to their labors of love. You can and should be very proud of those achievements. Perpetuating those indispensable, life-changing activities of our Conferences is the primary purpose of the Vincentian Endowment.

Organizations like St. Vincent de Paul need to dream. Our Endowment will make it possible for many wonderful dreams to come true in the service to God’s poor by our members on the front lines of our mission of mercy. The future belongs to those who prepare for it…to those who act – who do – and who have that special sense of urgency that says do it now. Too often we are tempted to put off our good ideas or best efforts until some later date. That is often a big mistake. If we use the present as fully as we can, the future will offer even more possibilities for us and those we serve. Psalm 37 tells us that “The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take.” The Lord will surely be delighted by the steps we take together to endow our Conferences with unprecedented resources for generations to come. Now is the time!

NOW...


In order for a Conference to be qualified to vote at a Council level, the Conference must meet the attendance requirements designated in the District bylaws. It is important to note that the bylaws allow for Conferences to be represented at General Membership Meetings and/or their District meetings by actual attendance or by proxy. The calculations for the attendance requirements are predetermined by our bylaws and are based on the twelve months prior to the actual voting. The District bylaws state:

As of October 1, 2014, in order to be a qualified Conference, a Conference must be represented at 50% of the Diocesan General Membership Meetings and 80% of their assigned District meetings. In other words, Conferences must be represented at a minimum of two of the four General Membership Meetings and 80% (ten out of twelve or nine out of eleven) of their District meetings within a twelve-month period of time. Only qualified Conferences may vote at the District or Diocesan Council level. In addition to losing their vote, other sanctions for non-compliance may be imposed on a Conference. Sanctions are not automatic or predetermined. See excerpt from the District bylaws below. Sanctions - In the event that a Conference does not attend District meetings on a regular basis, does not keep accurate records or does not submit in a timely fashion its Quarterly, Annual and Audit reports, or does not comply with the rules and regulations of the Society, after an appropriate probationary period as determined by the District Council, the District Council shall by a majority vote make a recommendation to the Diocesan Council Board where upon a majority vote of the Council Board can impose one or more of the following sanctions:

1. Recommend to the National Council that a Conference be prohibited from using the name of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul or any other similar name.

2. Deprive the Conference from access to District and/or Diocesan services including but not limited to District and/or Diocesan Twinning/Council Aid, Food Reclamation, Thrift Stores and Dining Rooms.

3. Withhold from the Conference funding or other types of assistance.

4. Make appropriate public disclosures regarding the status of the Conference.

Qualified Conferences

By Shirley Smalley


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th ANNUAL CONFERENCE FOOD DRIVE

Each year for the past 37 years The Men of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale have hosted an event to facilitate Conferences of the So-ciety of St. Vincent de Paul holding Food Drives to stock their pantries with food. Over the years the food drive has grown to include some 70 or more SVDP Conferences. At the Saturday, September 15

th Quarterly Meeting in the Hall of Banners at

420 W. Watkins St. in Phoenix we will have Food Drive supplies for all who wish to participate. After the program, Conferences and churches may pick up the free supplies which they have ordered for conducting their local food drives. These include grocery bags, holy cards, envelopes, and flyers suggesting appropriate types of food for donation by parishioners. Typically these materials will be stapled together, distributed to parishioners one weekend, and returned with donations the following weekend. The MEN OF OUR LADY of PERPETUAL HELP (Scottsdale) will be available to assist at the Quarterly Meeting. Lucy Meraz (602-850-6761) is sending out an invitation to your Conference to take part. Included are forms for requesting supplies. This annual food drive allows parishioners to donate over 30,000 bags of food for our SVdP food pantries each year. In addition, donations are made that provide for food to be purchased. The total value to Conference pan-tries is well in excess of $1 million each year. Please conduct a food drive for your own local use, or plan to donate your excess food to be picked up by another SVdP Conference of your choice.


Serving as the Body of Christ By Shirley Smalley

One little known maxim of the Society prohibits a Conference member from using his/her own personal funds to assist the poor... Vincentians are to use the common funds of the Conference in all Conference efforts. In this way, you insure the emphasis on the word "we". We the Conference have done these works of charity. We, the Conference, have helped this family. We, the Body of Christ, have shared

Christ's love with those in need. (How to Run a Conference 13-9) When Frederic Ozanam and his friends established the very first Conference known as the "Conference of Charity", they had a deep commitment to the core elements of spirituality, fellowship and service. They had a deep understanding that the Conference was based on collective action and decision-making. Growing in holiness and helping the poor were shared activities that were not intended to be owned by any of the individual members but rather by the group itself. In the early days, the money and goods used to help the poor came primarily from the members them-selves. At each meeting, a top hat was taken around the group in back of each person and members dropped their "secret" donation into the hat. Although the founding members paid for most of the works of the Conference, the funds were held and distributed collectively. Frederic and his fellow members aided the poor out of their combined funds and in the name of their Conference, not in their own name. Today, the standards for the Society remain the same. No member should ever give money or goods di-rectly to someone seeking assistance from the Society. To provide financial assistance, goods, or services directly from our own pockets to the poor is counter-productive to the mission and goals of the Society. It circumvents the Conference, its processes, decision-making governance, and its members. It makes the charitable work more about us and less about God and the Society that serves Him and His poor. (See National Council's reference to this issue below.) When a member provides money out of his or her own resources, they give the person they are serving access to funds not available to others not served by that individual Vincentian. Direct member-to-client actions give a preferential opportunity to just a handful of clients. Wanting to assist the poor is the primary reason that most of us joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, so it is easy for us to be tempted to help those in need even if that means giving them our own money. The temptations are many. Sometimes giving money directly from our funds is more expedient or perhaps we know that our Conference is low on funds. Even worse, there are times when we are tempted to give funds to a family because the Conference decided not to help them or not to help them as much as we think they should. There are even times when we give things or funds to families because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Such actions draw us outside of the Society and its character and into a charity of me, myself & I. (See National Council's reference to this issue below.) We are Vincentians and we must always remember that we serve as a unified body in the name of Christ. We love and support one another and serve the poor not in our own name but in the name of the Society. If we want to help the poor directly, then we need to participate in Vincentian programs that allow for that, like our Diocesan Christmas Adopt-A-Family program. We can always supplement our Vincentian work by giving to other charities that allow direct giving and contact. But, above all things, we must never denigrate the mission and vision of the Society by making the works of our Conference or council our own personal charity.

SVdP National Council Common Vincentian Questions and Answers Archives

(03/20/2014) Q: I went on a home visit with my partner and we visited a family in need of help with a utility bill. We had recently helped them and our guidelines would not let us help them this time. I really felt for the family and I decided to pay the bill for them out of my own money. Am I right in doing so? A: No. Every member is expected to honor the guidelines approved by the Conference. This is not your personal charity. You represent the Conference and must honor their decisions. You could have brought the case to the meeting and asked the Conference to override the guide-line temporarily in order to satisfy this need. The Conference as a whole can override it but not individual members. By paying the bill from your own funds, you dishonored the other members of the Conference and misrepresented the Society. If lack of funds was the problem, then you could have offered to make a donation to the Conference of those funds. However, the decision to help still falls to the Conference.

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A question came up at a recent district meeting: What does a team do, if during a home visit, they feel they have seen a situation of possible child or elder abuse? In our bylaws we clearly state that Vincentians follow the Diocese of Phoenix requirements. Here is the related information from Article 7 in our bylaws: Safe Environment Requirements All full-enhanced and associate members of the Conference must comply with the current Diocesan requirements related to the Safe Environment Training program to include but not limited to: completion of a foundational course, volunteer application, face-to-face interview and periodic renewals. Additionally, all Conference members will comply with the current Safe Environment policies. As such, in accordance with these Diocesan Safe Environment requirements, you are obligated to report such allegations immediately by phone or in person, to law enforcement and the Department of Child Safety (DCS). Non-emergency reports can be made to DCS online by going to https://dcs.az.gov/services/suspect-abuse-report-it-now.

If elder abuse is suspected, contact law enforcement and/or Adult Protective Services. All reports are confidentially submitted. Should the family then call to ask if your conference filed the report, you should not answer this question. The family is most likely calling a list of all they suspect filed the report.

If such a report is filed, the team should make the conference president aware of this action, so that conference leadership is aware of this incident and the filing of the report. It is imperative that each Vincentian must have completed the Safe Environment Training and renew this training each year. Many of you received renewal notices from the Diocese this month, and renewal must be done in accordance with the Diocesan requirements. Here is information from the Diocese of Phoenix website that is helpful to review. The mission of the Safe Environment Training Office is to prevent sexual, physical or emotional abuse and/or neglect of children and young people through continued education, building awareness, and maintaining a commitment to keeping all children and young people safe. The Diocese of Phoenix is committed to protecting all children and young people by offering several abuse prevention educational sessions. The Diocesan Policy and Procedures for the Protection of Minors requires all clergy, employees, volunteers that directly serve minors, volunteers that work in food pantries/provide meal service, provide ministerial service in private homes, adults administering service in an after school program, and minors to attend training on an annual basis. For more information, please visit the

Safe Environment website at

phoenix.setanet.org - Policies & Procedures)

Safe Environment Requirements

Society of St. Vincent de Paul August 2018

https://phoenix.setanet.org/index.php?show=policiesForProtection

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General Membership Meeting

The next General Membership Meeting will be held on

September 15, 2018.

The 2018/2019 Budget will be voted on at this meeting,

You will also be voting on the Investment Policy, so come

prepared to vote.

Articles for Newsletter Deadline for the September News-letter is August 20th, 2018. Email: [email protected]

Thank you. Sandy Edwards

Free Legal Clinic

Free legal advise offered every third Thursday, from 4:30 to

6:00 pm, at Family Assistance.

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30 Years in the Blink of an Eye Steve Jenkins

It seems like a bit of a stretch for me to have come from being a student studying Spanish in a school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, to joining our Society of St Vincent de Paul at St Gregory Conference in Phoenix, assisting friends in Cuernavaca to start a St Vincent de Paul Conference, and now reflecting on their Vincentian work for the past 30 years. San Juan Evangelista Conference began in April of 1988 with seven members who responded to a call to serve by Emil Taboada, founder, at Sunday Mass. I had provided Emil Taboada materials in English on the foundation and operation of the Society and its Conferences. He used the blueprint to model his Conference on the Rule and basic operation of Conferences in the United States and Phoenix. Subsequently, during my first visit to the new Conference in Cuernavaca in 1988, we decided to establish a relationship between Phoenix and Cuernavaca through a process we called 'intercambio' or exchange. In this process, every six months Vincentians would visit Cuernavaca and participate in their works. Likewise, Vincentians from Cuernavaca would visit the Phoenix Council and participate in our works. Over the past 30 years, almost 200 visits have been made to Cuernavaca by Vincentians from Phoenix, Seattle, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, and St Louis. During the same time, 42 Vincentians have come to Phoenix. The result of this exchange has provided a great model for Cuernavaca, which has implemented many ideas from Phoenix and built a

functioning Council, Conferences and a Vincentian Center which provides a variety of programs and services to the community. Visitors from the United States to Cuernavaca, have returned with an appreciation of the works of the Vincentians, the care they have for the people they service, and an enhanced understanding of Mexico and its culture. A monumental program was initiated after about two years of performing visits to families there in Cuernavaca By observing the families they served, they found that too many of the children, especially the teenagers, dropped out of school and took menial jobs or did nothing at all. They decided to assist children to continue in school and began by adopting seven students and supporting them through as many years of school as possible. Shortly thereafter, the Phoenix Diocesan Council, Districts 6 and 9, and individual sponsors in Phoenix began to provide funds to add more students to the program.


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A result of the 'intercambio' program was the hope placed on Cuernavaca Vincentians who had come to Phoenix that some day they may also have a SVDP Center like Phoenix. The result of their dreams and work is a wonderful Center that provides meals, services to families, assistance to Conferences, workshops for adults, tutoring for students, food boxes for elderly, a children's library and other services. The Society has grown from one Conference with seven members to a Community organization with many members, volunteers and community affiliates which support the work of St. Vincent de Paul. I think much of the success of our Friends in Cuernavaca is due to the persistent support of our Society in Phoenix and to the example of our system here in Phoenix. If a person was to visit them now, the operation of the organization and activities that serve the families would appear very similar to our work here in Phoenix. As the Society has grown in Cuernavaca, they have taken on a very distinctive character in their Community and, like our Society in Phoenix, have become an organization that is widely recognized for their service to the needy. Vincentians in Phoenix can be quite proud of the results of their support for the past 30 years.


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POLICY FOR CONFERENCE FUNDS MANAGEMENT Approved by the Phoenix Diocesan Council Board of Directors

June 20, 2018

As a “collective” entity, The Diocesan Council for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and its affiliated Conferences have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the appropriate stewardship of assets contributed directly to the Council and its Conferences. The Council has, over many years, established a formal process to ensure this fiduciary responsibility is fulfilled, including the formalization of an Investment Committee (Committee) comprised of Board Members, Conference Members and outside investment professionals. The Committee has conducted a formal selection process to engage a third-party, fiduciary provider of investment advisory services (Investment Advisor) to manage the investment process under the oversight of the Committee and, ultimately, the Society’s Board. Additionally, the Committee has established an investment policy (Investment Policy Statement) to facilitate the governance of assets gifted to the Society and ultimately, protect the long-term, continuation of the mission of the Society through disciplined investment management of these assets.

Given this context, the Society’s Board is providing this policy to the Conferences to provide the same level of fiduciary oversight and stewardship of assets given directly to the Conferences. The Conferences subject to this policy shall:

Conferences with operating cash or longer-term assets of $100,000 or less, are required to ensure the safe keeping of these assets by having the assets invested in checking, money market or Certificates of Deposit within FDIC Insurance coverage at a local bank or financial institution. Conferences that are given contributions or who have accumulated excess reserves greater than $100,000 are expected to notify the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chair of the Society’s Investment Committee. Together, with the Conference, this collective group will secure investment advice and establish a separate investment account in the name of the Conference for the stewardship of these assets and protect the long-term, financial wellbeing of the Conference. The investment plans for such contributions will be developed with the direct input of the Conference’s leadership and managed in accordance with the Society’s Investment Policy Statement. Conferences are generally prohibited from holding individual equity or fixed income securities that do not fall under this policy unless these securities are under a restriction established at the time of the gift by the donor. If a contribution to a Conference meets this criteria, the Conference will notify the Chief Financial Officer and the Investment Committee Chair. Together, with the Conference, the collective group will secure investment advice with respect to a plan for the long-term stewardship of these securities.

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Blessed Frederic Ozanam Intercession Prayer Line

O God, our Father, You alone have the power to bestow those precious gifts of Yours which we rightly call miracles. If it be Your will, be pleased to grant such a gift on behalf of...

ALL SAINTS MESA Tom Margalski Judy Hillard Nancy Hackert

Geri Adams Veronica Nord Maureen Julian CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION

Caroline Steele Judy Steele Bob Bruce HOLY CROSS Traci Fay HOLY FAMILY Emily Allaire IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Mike Vize Sally Ochoa Lucy Lucero Linda Lee–Chambon Diane McCann MOST HOLY TTRINITY Jackie Hennings OLPH SCOTTSDALE Mike Herrrmann Pat Hawn Forrest Dougherty Lila Wisdom Barbara Lowman OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE Joe DiGiovanni OUR LADY OF THE LAKE Doris Vore QUEEN OF PEACE Karen Rohan Susan Petrie Mary ay Dunlevy Martina Bonilla SACRED HEART—PARKER Karen Rath Mary Gonzales ST. BRIDGET Lou Martinez Vince Gutierrez

ST. JAMES Diane Stofko Abel Noble SACRED HEART—PRESCOTT Richard Howell Herb Bourgault ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE John Winters ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Vince Kempton

ST. LOUIS THE KING Phil & Mary Whelan Ed & Esther Escarcega Raul & Elvia Lujan Mario & Mary Fierros Bob McCarty

ST. CLARE OF ASSISI Kathy Ford

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER Margie Charles Gene Gazzola Joan Gazzola

ST. GERMAINE Don Rien Pat Caldwell Jeanne Kochan Joe Zambito Trudy Stuart Michelle Stashuk Marilyn and Verne Dorn Mary Fiebiger Gloria Johns ST. GREGORY Ceci Andrews Josie Gutierrez ST. MARGARET MARY-BHC Rev. Peter Dobrowski

ST. MARY—KINGMAN Janie Scott Roger and Rita Gaumond ST. MARY MAGDALENE Nancy Weise

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Henrietta Cordova

ST. JEROME Nancy Barnes Yvonne Hurley ST. JOSEPH—WILLIAMS Theresa Norsworthy ST. MATTHEW Evelyn Guerra Charles Seps

ST. JOACHIM & ST. ANNE Gene Harmeling Irene Sosnicki Harry Steckler Al La Rocque Mary Taylor Lucia Mastroianni Terry DeYoung Al and Alice LaRocque

ST. ROSE PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE Demore Family ST. STEVEN’S Betty Perry Pat Krause

SVDP EXECUTIVE OFFICE Geri Adelmann Aleena Who Dr. David Goldfarb Barbara Cabin Don Meis Dr. Oliver Harper Jacquie Lehe The Delbrocco Family Dick Hannon Frank Labriola Alice Ambrose Alice Ehmann Arden O’Connor Michelle Small Jerry Simmons Catherine Mulhern Esteban Chavez John Jakubczyk Cindy Coons Rosemary Brown Peter McQuaid Kathleen Nageotte Sharon Ehmann Paul Joseph DeMuro Daniel Mark "Bear" Johnson Joe Casey Thomas Bugai Bryce Yarbrough

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Requiescat In

Pace

May the Angels lead them into Paradise, may the martyrs receive them at their coming

and lead them into Jerusalem, the Holy City. May the Choir of Angels welcome them

and, with Lazarus, who was also poor, may they have everlasting rest.

Donald Patterson St. Philip the Apostle

Ann Hertle St. Claire of Assisi Art Gratton

St. Claire of Assisi

Darlene Murphy St. Louis the King

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St. Vincent de Paul Society Vincentian Support Services P.O. Box 13600 Phoenix AZ 85003

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PAID SUN CITY, ARIZONA

PERMIT NO. 249

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General Membership Meeting Sept. 15th has full agenda · the Vincentian Endowment. Organizations...

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